Supporting Māori students to become our future engineers.
Launched in 2018, we’ve proud to have created Whanake – a HERA scholarship, in collaboration with the Māori Education Trust.
Targeted to a Māori student in their first year of a four-year Bachelor of Engineering degree (B.E ., or B.Eng). The scholarship comprises of an annual scholarship award of $5,000 and a paid summer internship (with HERA) over four years.
We believe having genuine interactions with young Māori and their unique view on the world is very important for the future of our industry. And, we want to actively extend our industry’s capacity by creating a more diverse and attractive industry that Kiwi’s work with – and for.
What is Whanake all about?
Whanake is a te reo Māori verb meaning to:
- Move onwards or upwards,
- Grow,
- Rise up, and
- Develop.
We think it’s meaning is apt for this scholarship – and we see this growth and development going both ways. We’ll benefit from co-operating with the successful student in practical ways, and they’ll receive a yearly internship opportunity in return.
This will be a partnership
We’ve been thinking for some time on how to improve the attractiveness of our industry to future employees. It’s certainly a complex issue that needs to be approached from many angles. But we firmly believe our Whanake Scholarship is one way that we can work towards a more diverse and appealing industry.
Creation of this scholarship is a first step toward developing a more comprehensive and multi-faceted strategy. And, we see the recipients of this scholarship going on to drive this strategy forward, and of course – become role-models and mentors to other young Māori considering a career in engineering.
